172 STARLINGS. 



fields, imagined that they were in quest of the grain, and reported that instead 

 of proving beneficial, the grakles would, on the contrary, be highly detrimen- 

 tal to the country. The case was considered in form. On the part of the birds 

 it was argued that they raked in the newly-ploughed field, not for the sake of 

 the grain, but of the insects, and were therefore worthy of protection. They 

 were, however, proscribed by the Council, and in the space of a few hours 

 after the sentence was pronounced, not a grakle was to be found in the island. 

 This prompt execution was, however, followed by speedy repentance : the 

 locusts gained the ascendancy, and the people, who only viewed the present, 

 regretted the loss of the grakles. In a few years afterwards a few pairs were 

 again introduced, their preservation and breeding were made a State affair, 

 the laws held out protection to them, and the physicians on their part declared 

 their flesh to be unwholesome. The grakles accordingly multiplied, and the 

 locusts were destroyed." 



The type of this sub-family is — 



The Crowned Grakle {Gracula coronatd). 



Sub-Family III. 

 THE OX PECKERS. BUPHAGIN/E.* 



General Characteristics.- — Bill moderate, broad, with the culmen slightly de- 

 pressed and curved to the tip, which is entire ; the lateral sides of the lower man- 

 dible broad, and the gonys short and ascending ; the nostrils basal, small, .and partly 

 closed by a membrane ; the wings long and pointed ; the tail long and graduated, 

 with the end of each feather pointed ; the tarsi short and strong; the toes moderate, 

 strong, and armed with moderate, much compressed, curved, and acit." claws. 



The Ox-peckers arc found on the continent of Africa. They 

 are always in company with cattle, on whose backs they are gene- 

 rally seen clinging while seeking for the parasitical insects that 

 annoy those animals. 



The type of the race — 



The Ox-pecker, or African Beef-eater {Bnfihaga Africana), is a 

 common bird in many parts of Africa, where it follows the singular mode of 

 life that has obtained for it its name. Perching upon the backs of oxen or 

 other cattle, it sets to work busily to extract from their skins the larva; of the 

 (Jisirid'f, or bot-flies, with which they are almost constantly infested, and 

 which often give rise to painful tumours. It creeps about in all directions 

 upon the body of the ox by means of its powerful feet, which exhibit some re- 

 semblance to those of the woodpecker, although the toes are in the ordinary 

 position. The bill of the bird is well adapted for digging and squeezing out 



* ,8oOs, bous, an ox ; cpdyu, phage, io cat : beef-eater. 



